El Medano Surf – A Complete Guide
El Medano surf is decent enough for beginners, and offers an escape from the booming resort towns of south Tenerife. Tends to work better in the summer with S-SE swells.
El Medano is a small, lived-in fishing town that’s very much the ying to the yan of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, the two big resorts of southern Tenerife.
Right next the region airport and sat on a rugged yet undeniably beautiful stretch of the southeast coast, it can get decent when windswells push up through the S and E channels, which means it’s the opposite to the major west-coast spots of Tenerife.
That’s one of its pluses. The other is that most of its spots are very good for total beginners. They’re beach break with sand bottoms and are generally smaller overall. Oh yea, and because it’s a sort of designated beginner location, there’s not too much of a dose of the localism that these islands are so famous for.
In the last couple of years, El Medano has started to position itself as a bit of a hub for surf hostels and camps. We can see why. It’s got more of a local and hippyish vibe than the, frankly, ugly resorts that abound in these parts of the world, is cheaper, and still offers good access to plenty of consistent spots.
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>>This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in Tenerife
El Medano at a glance
The good…
The bad…
Where is El Medano?
El Medano sits on the southeastern edge of Tenerife. It’s a small village with long black-sand beaches to its north and south (those are where you’ll do the surfing).
Access is easy thanks to the proximity of the Aeropuerto Reina Sofia, otherwise known as Tenerife South Airport. It’s the biggest of the two on the island and it has LOADS of short-haul flight links to Europe and even one long-haul to the USA!
To get to town, you can either take a taxi straight from the airport or rent a car. We wouldn’t say a car is a MUST. If you’re on a surf camp or are planning on doing lessons, it’s likely that your transfers to the surf spots are already taken care of.
Where a car will be a big help is if you’re planning to book your own hotels and drive around the island. That means accessing whatever spots you like, both here and in northern Tenerife, where there are some cracking surf beaches about 1.5 hours’ drive away. I use DiscoverCars for hires simply becuase I’ve found them to be among the cheapest for trips lately.
Where to surf in El Medano?
There are a handful of surf spots around El Medano. The most famous is the main beach and the beach of La Jaquita, which are consistently good for beginners in the summer months, though I should stress they are mainly known as kitesurfing locations.
Here’s a look at both of those, plus other places you can surf close to Medano.
La Jaquita
You can bet your board stash that La Jaquita will fill up fast if a nice mid-period, semi-clean windswell pushes through the S channel in the summer.
The beach is probably the best-quality break on the whole east coast of the island when it’s on. It has a punchy left hander that works just off the rocks below the massive Kn Arenas del Mar Hotel (you cannot miss that!) at the north end of the bay.
Come down a little bit and the size usually increases until you get a crumbly A-frame that with a left that puts you on shallowish rock reef and a right that can be a bit bowly.
El Cabezo
El Cabezo is the opposite side of the bay to the Kn Arenas del Mar Hotel – you can still see it in the distance about 500m to the north.
This section of El Medano is famous as a bit of a wind tunnel, which is why it’s a kiter’s haven whenever there are gusts about. You do need windswell to get it working most of the time, which means you’ll usually be in the company of 100s of people whizzing past you on every peak. We’ve nearly been decapitated by an uncaring kiter here in the past.
If you don’t mind putting up with them, there can be some fun peaky breaks over rock and sand. Usually quite mushy.
Bunker
Kamikaze bodyboarders tend to love the slabby jaws of the A-frame peaks that roar into the rocks south of La Jaquita. We’re pretty convinced they’re not even surfable most of the time. The rights are heavy and fast in strong S swells. Works off the rocks that jut out south of El Cabezo.
Bahia El Medano (Playa El Medano)
Bahia El Medano is the main spot in the village. It’s on the beach that stretches south from the center of the main town in a long wisp of shadow-black sand. There are cafes and bars all the way along it, including easy entry from the main carparks and TF-643 highway.
It’s generally beginner stuff from top to bottom, with lots of space and windswell peaks that are very forgiving though never too impressive. Expect to come here if you’re booked onto one of the local Tenerife surf camps and there’s a S element to the swell.
La Tejita
La Tejita is more south-facing than all of the spots listed above here. The upshot? It can take in some of the refracted west swells that pulse past the islands in the winter months, making it one of the more consistent spots around El Medano (both S/E windswell and W groundswell can work).
Sadly, a lot of the swell the spot does get goes to waste, as it punches and dumps along the steep shore drop. The best option here is to go a little west along the bay to Playa del Confital where there can be a nice right and a decent A-frame, though it’s over a mixed rock-sand bottom.
Generally speaking, not a brilliant wave but it’s a backup if the swell is huge on the west coast.
Playa de las Americas
No guide to the surf in El Medano could go without a mention of Playa de las Americas.
This big resort area is located on the southwestern edge of Tenerife. It’s pretty gaudy and horrible in terms of hotels and looks, but it does have some fine and ultra consistent beach breaks that are good for all levels.
Yes, there’s that infamous Canarian localism in some spots, but there are also other spots that are unofficially reserved for the surf schools here, including one decent all-level right hand reef break.
There’s a good chance you’ll surf Playa Americas if you’re booked onto one of the local surf camps or sign up to a surf trip with a local surf hostel.
>>Read our full guide to Playa de las Americas surf
When to surf in El Medano?
The summer months, between May and August, are actually best for surfing in El Medano. That’s not the case for the rest of the island, which tends to work best in the winter.
El Medano is a bit of outlier when it comes to surfing in Tenerife. Most of the island works best with good N-NW groundswells, which turn on in earnest as the winter approaches Europe and low-pressure systems move through the Atlantic, skimming off the Azores and Madeira.
But Medano is on the southeast coast, so it’s kinda’ the opposite. It tends to prefer S summer swells and strong E-bound windwells, which come off of Africa around May to August. They can be hot winds, and a touch messy, but they’re just what you need to fire up the beaches and points.
Where to stay when surfing in El Medano?
In El Medano, the best option is to book yourself into a hotel/hostel and organize surf lessons when you arrive, which is a cinch, either at reception or by contacting a place directly (see our bit on surf lessons below).
Here are some of the places we adore here…
- Casa Grande Surf Hostel – These guys have clean, cheap rooms right in the heart of El Medano. They’re a great bunch and organize their very own surf classes every day. It’s a colorful hostel with well-maintained rooms and a very social vibe.
- El Medano Los Balos – A spacious three-bedroom apartment that is smack dab on the main beach of El Medano. Literally one step out the door and you can paddle out into the surf. We almost love the sun-bathed terrace and modern-chic interiors as much as we love the location!
- Tree House – We really like the offering from the Tree House, which includes a stunning swimming pool and a co-working space. They also have nighttime events and parties. The only downside is that it’s a bit out of town, up in the dusty hills just to the north and west of El Medano proper.
You’ll have to head over to Playa de Las Americas to get dedicated surf camps.
If you are considering that (it means having all your surf lessons, board rental, transfers to surf spots, and a whole load more included in a single price), then check out the offering from Volcano Surf Center, which we rate as the best on the island right now. We also have tons more options on our guide to the best surf camps in Tenerife.
Oh, and for more bargain-friendly suggestions, be sure to check out our guide to the top Tenerife surf hostels.
Surf lessons in El Medano
Remember we said that El Medano is slowly but surely establishing itself as a good beginner surf hub on Tenerife? Well…there are now surf schools to show for that.
We can highly recommend a few of them because of the quality of tuition they offer and the ease of pre-booking online before you even travel…
- Red Rock Surf Academy – These guys run 1.5-2-hour lessons and limit classes to a max of six people per instructor. They have very good foamy boards and are great with all ages.
- Gorilla Team Tenerife – These guys do totally private lessons for about $25 more than the group ones offered by Red Rock. They’re hands-on and better if you’re looking to improve faster.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
